Alan Stern, principal investigator for the historic July 2015 flyby of Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, is auctioning his second-fastest vehicle, a 2006 Nissan 350Z Coupe. He bought it the year the Pluto flyby mission was launched. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Alan Stern’s beloved Nissan 350Z Coupe bears the bumper sticker, “My other vehicle is on its way to Pluto,” which was once actually true. The bumper sticker, however, is due for an update.

Stern is principal investigator for the historic July 2015 flyby of Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which is now about 400 million miles beyond Pluto, headed for an even more distant rendezvous in January 2019.

But Stern’s more immediate mission involves letting go of his Nissan 350Z, which he bought in 2006 — the same year New Horizons launched. And, he’s doing it for a good cause.

“I got the idea about the time I took possession of my new car, which is a Tesla,” Stern said. “And you know, I thought, Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered, we would never have been able to even do (New) Horizons if Pluto hadn’t been found. I wanted to do something to help them.”

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